Frequent fires along the American River Parkway are now the new normal for some residents in the Woodlake community.

"I hate to say this, but we've pretty much become accustomed to it -- and that is wrong," Woodlake resident Mike Acosta said. "People are getting tired of this experience every year. A lot of people here are elderly people, and younger people with asthma, [the fire] does affect our health."

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Last year, firefighters responded to more than 70 fires on the parkway, and many of them still remain unsolved.

"When you have these large fires with tall flame lengths, a lot of that evidence gets destroyed, burned up," Sacramento Fire Department spokesperson Chris Harvey said.

The parkway is county-owned land, meaning park rangers enforce most of the laws. Every day they're out, looking for open fires and illegal activity.

This year, they enlisted the help of goats and sheep to reduce fire hazards.

"Where they really come in handy too is when we get into the steep areas as they go up in the hillsides,” Sacramento County Park Ranger Wade Derby said. “They're very effective there as well."

Some neighbors said the issue goes beyond the brush and vegetation.

"It seems like it happens far too often,” Woodlake resident Jann Dorothy said. “And, we always wonder how it started and often times we find out that it's a homeless encampment."

Last year, Sacramento County supervisors voted to hire three extra park rangers to protect the parkway and set aside $700,000 for additional resources.